A Sorry, A Thank you and an I Love You

I felt the entire world come to a stand still as the healer's words hit me again and again, like an ambush of arrows.

"Me...or the baby?" I asked, a little in a daze. It felt like I was in some faraway place, watching the girl who looked exactly like me sitting in front of the healer.

I slowly turned to Austin whose eyes were wide and reddened. Unlike me, he seemed to clearly understand what the healer had said, and seemed to be trying to accept it too.

"What do you mean?" I asked, feeling hot tears sting the back of my eyes. I blinked rapidly, but it only made them rush down faster, and I felt the warmth on my cheeks.

"One of you will make it out of labor. It can't be both of you."

"Is there no other way? Is there nothing? An offering? A sacrifice? A prayer?"

I swallowed on hearing Austin's voice. He sounded just as broken as I was, and my chest filled up.

"None. That is what's written."

Austin gave a slight pause. "What if she doesn't give birth?"

I turned to him, my eyes wide. "No